Gilman boys soccer beats Boys' Latin in opener

Pictures from Gilman's home soccer game against Boys' Latin on Thursday, August 28. (Staff photos by Brian Krista, Baltimore Sun Media Group)

After a slow start, Gilman's boys soccer team adjusted and scored two late goals to defeat visiting Boys’ Latin, 3-1, Thursday in the season opener for both schools.

Gilman coach Jon Seal said it probably will take a while for his Greyhounds to play a full 80 minutes because they graduated 13 seniors and start five sophomores.

“This was the first varsity game for a lot of our players,” Seal said. “It’s going to be a work in progress. We are going to struggle to score goals. We didn’t have one guy coming back that even had one goal.”

Performances such as the one turned in by senior fullback Chris Wolfe will be welcomed as the offense comes together.

Wolfe helped set up the game-winner and scored his team’s final goal.

After Luke Granger collected a pass from Wolfe on a free kick to the left of the goal, he found Andy Matthews, who beat Lakers senior goalie Drew Gray from six yards out, to the upper right corner with 3:32 remaining.

"We made some bad defensive choices that gave them some set pieces and they finished their set pieces," Boys' Latin coach Don Rickels said. "That's a sign of a well-coached team."

Wolfe put the game away 66 seconds after Matthews' goal.

Wolfe blasted a shot on a free kick to the lower right corner from 25 yards.

“Chris Wolfe played in every game as a freshman and sophomore,” Seal said. “He makes good decisions, and he made the right decisions on those set pieces. He played the ball into the back post on one and shot the ball directly on goal on the other. That gave us the game.”

Gilman scored in the fourth minute when a miscommunication between a Lakers defender and Grey gave Granger an easy tap in.

Boys’ Latin tied it at 1-1 in the 47th minute as senior midfielder Elliott King scored on a penalty kick.

“We got absolutely crushed by McDonogh,” Rickels said of a mid-August scrimmage. “But we have made enormous strides every day in practice and I’m speechless when it came to the effort they gave me today.”